Fan's Offer Singer New Kidney

[Tinah1968]

Fans inundate Natalie Cole with offers of a kidney
April 1, 2009, 6:54 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Natalie Cole's fans want to give her a kidney.

The 59-year-old singer told Larry King on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with kidney failure, and while she was still on his CNN show, dozens of viewers wrote in offering to be tested as possible donors.

Without a donor kidney, Cole says she will be on dialysis for the rest of her life.

The daughter of Nat King Cole said she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in February 2008. Her kidneys failed after treatment and she has since been seeking a donor.

[okarol]

Natalie Cole Needs a Kidney Transplant and Offers Stream In

 Today 10:50 am By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Natalie Cole has had her ups and downs — including much-publicized addictions to cocaine and heroin that led to Hepatitis C. Now she’s gone public with a new challenge: Both of her kidneys are failing and she needs a transplant.

Cole gave her first public interview on her travails with kidney disease on CNN’s "Larry King Live" last night, and by the time the show was done, dozens of viewers had offered to be tested to be her organ donor.

"There are some great human beings out there," said a grateful Cole, who is dialyzed three times a week for her condition. "That’s all I can say. I’m on a very long list, which is why we are looking to donors.”

In Cole’s case, her son wasn’t a match so he couldn’t donate to her. But she’s lucky to get the attention and the potential donors. Right now, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, 79,029 people in the United States are waiting for kidneys (in 2008, 27,958 kidney transplants were performed), so if one of those benevolent people who reached out to her on Larry King’s show actually comes through for her, that could be, well, "unforgettable."

--    http://www.wowowow.com/entertainment/kidney-transplant-offers-pour-natalie-cole-256082

[slk76]

I was really upset and disturbed by Larry Kings interview with Natalie Cole, SO I wrote this:
Dear Mr. King,
YOU WERE RIGHT! Natalie Cole, I'm sorry to say is WRONG when she says needing a kidney transplant is NOT a life and death situation.  I was thrown into kidney failure after a heart surgery accident destroyed my kidneys when I was 26.  I was immediately put on dialysis, which is a horrible, long drawn out process that only cleans your blood 40-60% so the rest of the toxins that your kidneys would normally flush out ARE LEFT IN YOUR BODY! Dialysis is not a picnic by any means.  As to her take it or leave it comment about being called with a cadaver kidney I'm sad to see someone so nonchalant about their own life! Anyone offered a kidney should TAKE IT, your next match may come too late.  I was lucky enough to have parents who were willing to be donors.  I was tested at 2 hospitals, along with my mom, before I ended up at Cedars Sinai, in the kidney transplant program headed by Dr. Stanley Jordan, who is Steve Cojocaros' and Georeg Lopez' doctor as well.  I was given IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin) because I had antibodies to my mother's kidney.  Within ONE treatment I was ready for transplant!!  I've had a healthy life and healthy kidney back since May 2006.  My mom, obviously is older than me and THIS WAS NOT A BARRIER to her giving me her kidney.  The main thing the doctors look for is for their donors to not have any potential risks to their own lives when they donate a kidney. Her interview made me very frustrated.  I am not sure if anyone realized how many of her facts and statements were off base.  I wanted to write to let you know that YOU WERE RIGHT, a kidney transplant is the best idea for someone in kidney failure.  I hope you are willing to retouch on this subject with corrected facts and ideas.  I'm sure Dr. Jordan and his team would be willing to speak with you, as would my mother and I.  Please contact me with any questions.  I know a few other patients who might also be willing to share their stories with you, to give your viewers real insight into the pain and suffering kidney failure can cause and the renewal of health and life that transplants bring!
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Soraya Kohanzadeh
www.sevenluckystars.com

I hope people read this and understand why we all HATE dialysis and how wrong she is to promote it as essentially just as good as a new kidney!

[Wattle]

So thats what I need to do.......learn to sing!

TOO EASY        

[Sunny]

Very frustrated by this whole thing. She gets kidney failure due to hep C because of her drug use and ends up with loads of fans offering to donate. Then others with kidney disease, through no fault of their own, wait in line on a list.

[Tinah1968]

I feel the same way that you do Sunny... I thought wow i wish that these people would offer some of the people on this site a kidney,There are people who have been waiting a long time and may never get a Kidney yet because she is a singer lets give it to her. I don't get it...

[Zach]

I hope people read this and understand why we all HATE dialysis and how wrong she is to promote it as essentially just as good as a new kidney!

Sorry, but not all of us hate dialysis.
And what is right for Natalie Cole, is right for Natalie Cole.

[petey]

My Marvin doesn't hate dialysis, either -- even though he's waiting for a second transplant (because he would prefer a transplant over dialysis).  Marvin has a busy, fun, active, productive life even with the dialysis.

I feel like Sunny does on this point...
 

Very frustrated by this whole thing. She gets kidney failure due to hep C because of her drug use and ends up with loads of fans offering to donate. Then others with kidney disease, through no fault of their own, wait in line on a list.

[paris]

I hope people read this and understand why we all HATE dialysis and how wrong she is to promote it as essentially just as good as a new kidney!

Sorry, but not all of us hate dialysis.
And what is right for Natalie Cole, is right for Natalie Cole.

Zach, you always have such a great view on every situation.   

[MandaMe1986]

I hope people read this and understand why we all HATE dialysis and how wrong she is to promote it as essentially just as good as a new kidney!

Sorry, but not all of us hate dialysis.
And what is right for Natalie Cole, is right for Natalie Cole.

I agree with Zach she has the right to decided what is right for her.  I personally am not willing to take a living donor kidney at the moment. It may change later down the line. But I don't want it.  I have a lot of wonderful family members and friends who are willing to get tested.  But I don't want it.  And that is my choice and only mine to make. 

[Brightsky69]

I believe all those people who emailed wanting to get tested for Natalie Cole just want to get their foot in the door. They just want a little fame...a little attention. They want to be able to say "I gave a kidney to Natalie Cole!" I bet all of them dream about becoming close friend with Natalie....spending summers together. I doubt any of them are sincere.

[kellyt]

I seem to be more in line with Brightsky.

[TynyWonder]

I would think that if any of us did have the "advantage" Natalie does have...............the fame and all, that if need be, we would use it to our advantage ESPECIALLY when it came to *our* health........I can't see how anyone would NOT use that advantage in the event of our health declining really.........

[kellyt]

Celebrities definitely seem to have an advantage.

[Brightsky69]

I bet if all those people got tested and they said - You don't match Natalie Cole but you do match Jane Doe who desperately needs a kidney. None of them would donate to Jane Doe. 

[Zach]

Celebrities definitely seem to have an advantage.

I think anyone who gets their story told in the media, whether celebrity or common folk, will always have an advantage.

[okarol]

It's true, if you get your story out there, have a transplant team that is willing to evaluate the potential donors, and can cope with the ups and downs - you definitely have an advantage.

[Rerun]

I hope people read this and understand why we all HATE dialysis and how wrong she is to promote it as essentially just as good as a new kidney!

Sorry, but not all of us hate dialysis.
And what is right for Natalie Cole, is right for Natalie Cole.

Zach, you always have such a great view on every situation.   

I'll go on the record.... I HATE DIALYSIS!   

[kellyt]

Simular to America's Most Wanted, there should be a show for people looking for organs.  Every week they would profile 3-5 people and give the specifics of what they need, who you can contact if you are interested in testing, etc.  That would be cool.

[okarol]

Simular to America's Most Wanted, there should be a show for people looking for organs.  Every week they would profile 3-5 people and give the specifics of what they need, who you can contact if you are interested in testing, etc.  That would be cool.

I heard someone suggest that very idea Kelly - they said why not have UNOS profile the people waiting the longest, who have no living donors and have been on dialysis a long time? That would minimize the complaint that some people are jumping the line by advertising or attracting donors while other patients do not have the ability/resources/energy to mount their own campaign.

[Zach]

Me first!   

[twirl]

so to have a better chance at getting a kidney I have to become a star 

[okarol]

Me first!   

You ARE the longest waiting Zach!

[Zach]

Me first!   

You ARE the longest waiting Zach!

[twirl]

Zack
you can go first